The term drone refers to a type of unmanned aerial vehicle or UAV. The first drones were used in warfare and that use continues but today UAVs can be used for tasks of all sorts including checking and herding livestock.
Google something like herding plus drones to see how efficient, and yes, let’s be honest, fun, drones can be for the operator. Some information strongly suggests that a proficiency at video gaming skills is readily transferrable to drone-operating.
But if you are a tad too “mature” to have been a Super Mario fan don’t despair. It’s a learnable skill.
Corey Lambeth, a New Zealand farmer told CBC’s As it happens, that his drone has freed up time to be with his family. Time that previously would have been spent checking and herding his cattle and sheep.
He’s now able to do that with a camera drone. A barking camera drone.
He records his own dogs’ voices on his smart phone and transfers it to play on the drone.
Amazingly, after a bit of confusion as to who’s barking and where the heck is he? Lambeth’s dogs have learned to work with the drone. When they realize the barking sound is coming from “over there” they let that herder/drone carry on while they work another area.
Sheep dogs are savvy. They seem to anticipate which way the sheep is going to go almost before it knows itself. So far, no drone has been able to match that skill.
Drones can badly frighten some animals, particularly horses. At the other end of the spectrum there’s some suggestion that over time livestock will get used to them and pay them little mind.
— Shirley Byers